Brindle Books Interview with C. Q. Turnstone, author of Avarice of Empire, due for release on 6th March 2025.

 

22nd February 2025

C.Q. Turnstone is an historian and author of biographical historical fiction. His debut novel, Avarice of Empire, will be published by Brindle Books on 6th March 2025. We caught up with him recently to ask him about the book and his writing process.

Let's start with your book. How would you sum up what it's about?

First and last, Avarice of Empire is the true story of the life of a nineteenth-century British cavalry officer called Charles Agnew, what drove him to seek adventure in India, and how he came to meet an untimely end 'by the hand of assassin'. More than that, though, it's also about the fortitude of Victorian women, class division and colonial prejudice, early photography and the embryonic intelligence service, a revolution in global communications, and how an Irishman discovered what would become India’s largest gold mine.

So historical fiction, but still a true story?

That's right, yes. It's biographical in spirit and detail, and tells a story about real people and events with as much historical accuracy as possible. However, that 'as possible' is an important caveat. A true story can only ever be as true as an author's interpretation of the available historical evidence allows it to be. Creative leaps of imagination are necessary to fill in the gaps. That's the case with non-fiction biography and history as well. Whether you're talking about things that happened this morning or millennia ago, it's impossible to know everything about a given situation from every perspective or what motivated someone to make a particular decision. 

What inspired you to write about Charles Agnew in the first place?

I'd always wanted to write a novel — it's a pretty common ambition, I'm sure. I toyed with various ideas over the years, but none of them ever quite worked. Then on a chance visit to Canterbury Cathedral on a rainy Sunday in May 2015, I noticed a memorial to a cavalry officer who'd been killed "by the hand of an assassin" in Egypt in 1873. I was intrigued by that unique turn of phrase, just as countless other people must have been during the past century and a half. I wanted to know who Charles Agnew was, what he'd been doing in Egypt, why he was killed and by whom? When I began researching the answers to those questions, I knew immediately it was a story I needed to tell.

How did you approach the research?

About a year after finishing Avarice of Empire I began studying towards a Masters in Imperial and Global History at the University of Exeter. As you might expect, that's given me all sorts of insights into how to conduct historical research with academic rigour. However, when I was researching the book I was just figuring things out for myself as I went along — learning on the job, so to speak. I thoroughly enjoy the research process, especially the privilege of examining things like letters, scrap books, and photograph albums that the people I'm writing about actually held in their hands. A great deal of archive material has been digitised in recent years, which makes the research task easier in all sorts of ways, but there's no substitute for visiting an archive or a story location in person. Among many other places, my research included visits to the 16th Lancers' regimental museum near Newark, the Stoke-on-Trent City Archives, and a certain public house in Tilbury.

What was the most interesting thing you found out about Charles Agnew?

Without giving anything specific away, it was fascinating to discover the multi-dimensional and often unpredictable nature of his character.

Does the story have an underlying message or moral?

You can safely assume it isn't a nostalgic celebration of imperial colonialism. I hope that much is obvious from the title alone. Beyond that — and this is something that emerged from the history without me contriving it — is that the expression of human qualities such as courage, resilience, and compassion, cuts across boundaries of race, class, gender, and faith.

How did you approach writing about other cultures?

With great care, particularly to avoid falling into the traps of stereotyping and cliche. Thorough research is crucial. I invited a number of people (from Ireland and India, for example) to act as sensitivity readers, and found their feedback incredibly helpful.

Did you feel a sense of responsibility towards the people you were writing about, perhaps especially those who may have living descendants?

That's a great question and, yes, I very much did. It's something I touch on in the Historical Note at the end of the book. My self-imposed rule from the beginning was a kind of respectful realism: I would always be guided by the available documentary evidence, and I wouldn't knowingly misrepresent anyone, but neither would I pretend that prevailing social and cultural attitudes had no influence. People are complicated creatures after all, and it's those complications that make a story interesting.

What were the differences between writing real versus fictional characters?

I've never counted how many real people feature in the book (lots), but there are only six fictional named characters. They served the very specific purpose of broadening the story and helping to connect its different aspects, and of course I could do whatever I liked with them without breaking my own rules. Fictional characters require much less research than real ones, although I found that the more detailed I made their backstories, the easier it was to bring them to life on the page. The actual writing is really no different at all. In fact, as the story developed the fictional characters became as 'real' to me as the real ones.

What kind of reader do you think will enjoy Avarice of Empire?

I'd certainly like to imagine that it will appeal to anyone who already knows they have a taste for historical fiction, or failing that at least a general interest in nineteenth-century life. The story inevitably features a degree of military history, although perhaps not in a way that might typically appeal to enthusiasts. Based on feedback received from test readers, in terms of factors like age, genre preference, and existing knowledge of the period, I'm delighted that the book seems to appeal to a much wider audience than I'd expected.

If you had to be one of the characters in the story, which one would you choose?

That's quite a tough one! I suppose it would have to be Morgan Farrell.

Whether historical or otherwise, which authors of fiction have been most influential on your writing?

I'm drawn to crafted storytelling with complex plot interconnections and memorable characters, and the more sweeping in scope the better. With that in mind, the three authors I'd say have had the most influence on my writing aspirations are Bernard Cornwell, Hilary Mantel, and Ken Follett. There's a long list of others I admire and enjoy as well though, of course, from Robert Louis Stevenson, R.M. Ballantyne and Arthur Conan Doyle, whom I read over and over as a child, to the likes of George Orwell, William Golding, Sebastian Faulks, R.F. Kuang, Anthony Doerr, Percival Everett, Tan Twan Eng, Elif Shafak, Kazuo Ishiguro, Douglas Stuart, and Simon Mawer.

What do you think is the most important quality and/or skill for a writer of historical fiction?

Without a doubt, the most important quality is empathy — for both characters and readers. The most important skill is harder to pinpoint, because so many are crucial. I'm going to dodge the question slightly and say that the skill I've probably found most useful is being able to 'be in the scene'. In other words, visualising what a scene looks/sounds/smells like from the perspective of an invisible observer standing next to, behind, in front of, or far away from the other characters.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?

I discovered a while back that listening to classical music (headphones rather than 'in the room') really helps with maintaining focus and lubricating the wheels of creativity. Personally, I write better in the morning and edit better in the afternoon. I'm also someone who continually edits as they write rather than rough drafting and editing later (although there's plenty of editing later as well.) I don't set myself word count targets per day. Some days the words come easy, some days they don't. My preference is always for quality over quantity. Once I find my way into a new chapter or new scene, the rest usually emerges readily enough.

What advice would you give to new writers?

I'm quite certain I'm nowhere near qualified enough to give anyone advice about writing, except perhaps to recommend ignoring advice on social media and just write what you'll enjoy reading. That said, you can't go far wrong with George Orwell's six rules of writing and Stephen King's prohibition of adverbs (other than in dialogue.)

After Avarice of Empire, what's next?

The story will continue.

Avarice of Empire will be released on 6th March 2025

published by Brindle Books Ltd.

You can pre-order the e-book now by clicking

HERE

Brindle Books interview with Roderick Easdale, Author of Summer At Tangents

Roderick Easdale, author

Interview by Richard Hinchliffe

8th May 2024

The latest release from Brindle Books Ltd, Roderick Easdale's Summer At Tangents, takes us into new territory as a publishing house. Our output to date has comprised mainly of Action Adventure, Thrillers, Dark Fantasy/Sci-Fi and True Crime. Most of the manuscripts, or the pitches that we receive from authors fall within those genres.

It was a surprise then, to be confronted, a few months ago, with a comic novel. It's not the sort of thing that I had read much of before, nor had I really given much thought to publishing anything outside of the above mentioned genres.

Still, I decided to give it a go. Whenever I have the time, I do try to read at least three chapters of any new submission. With Summer At Tangents, however, I didn't stop at three chapters. I carried on. As soon as I had read the manuscript, I was determined that we would publish this book.

It had been a long time since a manuscript actually made me laugh - (at least, for the right reasons) - and this one did. In Summer At Tangents, Roderick has managed to create character-driven humour which is funny without ever being cruel - something that many modern authors fail to do. It is, I imagine, his experience of living in the world of his characters that makes it possible for him to poke fun in such a warm and affectionate manner.

I managed to catch up with Roderick to put a few questions to him about the book and his writing process:

In three sentences, what is your book about?

Tangents is a decaying village with a poorly attended church and a struggling golf club. Now the church is threatened with closure. So the vicar’s good friend, a wily golf club committee member, acts to save the church in ways which also benefit the club and his friends and involve duping almost everyone along the way. 

When did you first start to write?

Gosh. Very young – but don’t we all? We are made to write stories in school English lessons aren’t we, and get examined on this – it’s how we pass our English exams. A lot of my work at school and university involved essay writing, as I went down the arts and social science routes. Then after university I became a journalist. So I have been writing most of my life.   

What is it that drives you to write?

A love of words I think. I also compile crosswords and that definitely stems from a love of words.

What is your writing process - do you have a fixed schedule or method?

No. As a journalist, I have learnt to write anywhere, anytime. I am freelance and no freelancer likes to turn down work; nor can they risk missing deadlines if they want to continue to be commissioned! 

How much research did this novel require?

Hardy any as it is a world I know well. It was a case of ‘write about what you know’. One of the characters in the novel has moved to a new part of the country where he knows no-one and gets to know people through the golf club, which mirrors one of my experiences. I have been a member of six golf clubs, so can write about golf-club life with confidence. The club in the novel is the main meeting point for its village as it serves as the local pub and restaurant, and non-golfers use it. I have also been a member of such a club.

 There are some hidden, I’m not sure you would call them jokes so much as references to things which if readers do no pick up on them – and most will not – would not detract one iota from the story, but are there for a bit of fun, an added bonus for those who know the history, for example, of the Beatles or Leeds United. These required me double-checking some facts. There are also various references to other writers’ work. When quoting from literature I had to check I was not misquoting through my faulty memory; not that it matters that much as the character who does most of the quoting is somewhat indifferent to accuracy anyway. But when the vicar quotes from the bible I had to make sure he was getting it spot on!

Is that why you set a lot of the action at a golf club – your familiarity with that world?

Yes, that and also the beauty of golf clubs is that all sorts of people mix there. It is hard to think of places where people from different walks of life socialise together, become friends and acquaintances. The advantage for a novelist is that this is a natural setting for where you find people who would not naturally come into each other’s orbit, let alone socialise with them, doing exactly that. 

Towards the end of novel a character reflects on a treasured friendship: “If you add up the hours I have spent with him – I have just been having a wee stab at it – I reckon it comes to years. Literally. All of them at the golf club. If it wasn’t for golf I would never have known him.”

You say you have referenced other writers’ work in your novel, which authors are your biggest influences?

I have written a book on PG Wodehouse’s novels, so it is perhaps inevitable some of his craftwork would have rubbed off on me, if only sub-consciously. Not in terms of writing style but in the way he formed his plots. 

His early success was not as a novelist but in musical theatre. He described his novels as musical theatre without the music and how he would imagine in his novels that he was writing for a cast of actors. He believed major actors have to be given enough to do, and if they appear in a scene they had to have an important role in it. So, for example. PG Wodehouse rewrote part of Leave It To Psmith to give the Efficient Baxter a scene where he ends up lobbing flowerpots through Lord Emsworth’s bedroom window, as Wodehouse realised that Baxter’s was a more major part than the novel scenario had allowed for, so he added in this episode to boost Baxter’s part.

I wrote a conversation involving the membership committee chairman, as it suited the plot at that point. I realised that this was a character who would be fun to write for, so I had to give him other things to do and involve him in other scenes. His ended up being the part I probably most enjoyed writing, in fact. 

Once Wodehouse had the idea for a plot of a novel he would write out a detailed structure, often as much as a third of the length of the finished work. Into this he would also set down bits of dialogue in skeleton form to be written up later. (He claimed that he always thought that in writing the book he was wasting valuable time, as the difficult part of writing was drawing up the plot.)

I also wrote up sections of dialogue in advance. However I was far more free-wheeling as regards the scenario. I did not have a rigid structure to follow, rather a destination and various stopping-off points. This means at times I can think ‘hang on, what if such-and-such happens now, so that person does this in response and that means…’  and from this you can get a new idea, maybe a subplot, or just a humorous incident or a simply a funny line.

I have always worked this way, much to the ire of one of my Politics A level teachers. She was firm in her view that the only way to write essays was to start with about a six-line précis of what you were to write and then you follow this outline to write the essay. I was far more free-flowing – you write something and another idea pops into your head from this, so you include that also; or you realise the flow of your argument means that something you were going to introduce later should be brought in now, and so on. 

To mollify her, I would leave the first seven lines blank, write my essay, and then do a précis of what I had written in this blank space at the start. My B grades from her turned to A grades as “your essays are much better now that you are structuring them properly”. I never let on.

An analogy: if you meet up with friends in the pub say, or for dinner, do you know what you will be talking about three-quarters of an hour in? Of course, not. You will know in advance the topics you are likely to talk about during the course of the evening, maybe some news you want to impart, or a question you wish to ask; but your conversational topics are not rigidly structured or pre-determined in advance. 

What are your future plans?

That may not be up to me! I bumped into an acquaintance I’d not seen for a while, who asked what I had been up to. I said I was having a comic novel published. He looked at me sternly and replied: “It’s up to the reader to decide if it is a comic novel, not you.”

Summer At Tangents is available now in eBook and Paperback, and can be ordered from all good book shops

Alternatively, you can click HERE to purchase from Amazon, 

or click HERE to purchase from Blackwell's

Circus Freak Nation by Patrick J Sacchetti

 

27th January 2024

A chance to catch up with Patrick J Sacchetti, author of Circus Freak Nation.

Interview by

Richard Hinchliffe

Patrick J. Sacchetti, author

The release of Circus Freak Nation has given me the excuse and the opportunity to catch up with author Patrick J Sacchetti. Some of you may be aware that I interviewed Patrick way back in August 2022 for the release of his previous novel, Heaven’s Assassins. If you didn’t catch that interview, or simply want to read it again, you can click HERE

So, when I saw that Patrick had released another title, I couldn’t wait to get hold of a copy, and to get in touch with the author himself and ask him a little about it.

RH: Briefly, and without giving too much away, what is Circus Freak Nation about?

 

PS: Circus Freak Nation starts out as a murder mystery of a college girl murdered in the classic Chicago Holy Name Cathedral Catholic church.  The girl's family hires a private detective agency, Heavens Assassins Detectives, to find out what is going on with the investigation into her murder.  This drags the agency, and its detectives, into a spider's web of various dubious characters with a variety of evil acts simultaneously taking place.  The various characters and related insidious acts they are tangled up in seem unrelated at first.  Little by little, as they dig deeper and deeper, all the characters and all their dubious acts really are connected.  Everyone is manipulated, controlled, bought, and sold, by a handful of narcissistic power players in the United States.  All the book's characters end up being moved around a chess board in a game of toxic chess where there is only a chosen few making the moves, letting a majority of the American citizens take the losses, while the power players gain their riches. Really, everyone is complicit in this, and no one is innocent.  Except for the poor, dead college girl, of course.

 

RH: How does this book relate to, or tie in with your previous work, Heaven’s Assassins?

 

PS: Heavens Assassins was the group led by Luke Augustine, who is now the main detective in Heavens Assassins Detective Agency.  Whereas in the book Heavens Assassins, the core group got out of legal entanglements any way possible, in Circus Freak Nation the group has to depend on the law and support law and order and become certified private investigators in the process. Nicola Esposito is with the agency, as well as Luke's neighbourhood friend since childhood, Anthony Testicolli.  Stephanie Bennavutti is still Luke's main girlfriend and provides the support and guidance that the entire agency needs when things get difficult.

 

The main difference between the two books is that in Circus Freak Nation, this is more of a social and political satire, taking shots at the power players and their followers who obediently take all the orders delivered down from the top.  I take aim at those who manipulate the media, manipulate the political environment to fool people and are simultaneously total hypocrites in the process.  At times the social and political climate in America has taken on more of a Circus Freak show than that of a civilized powerhouse nation.

 

RH: How did you first get into writing books?

 

PS: Growing up as a kid I was fortunate to have a great local library stocked with provoking books.  The idea that there are people in the US that want to ban books because a selected few individuals object to the contents is beyond crazy.  It's the Thought Police and fascism is what it is.  Growing up with books allowed me to expand my mind, laugh and learn, and travel in my mind, leaving my small-minded Chicago blue collar suburb behind without leaving the library reading room.  Who could ask for more than that?  Rock music and local blues was big in my neighbourhood, and I loved writing reviews of rock and blues albums while in high school and then while at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale IL.  I'm not a professionally trained author and will never be compared to Cormac McCarthy or one of the other greats. I've always had a lot going on in my mind and have a touch for taking the stock of situations and satirizing them.  Having people interested in what I write, laughing and being scared at the same time, is the ultimate reward.

  

RH:   What are your favourite books and authors, and why?

 

PS:  The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami is in my opinion, one of the top five modern novels because of its dream-like quality and ability to make the reader think, laugh and be afraid all in the same chapter.  The journey that Murakami sends the book's protagonist on takes the reader along for the ride.  You feel all the thrills, chills and excitement and it feels like you're right there along with the main character.  And few books can do that.  Another modern classic, must read and favourite of mine is The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien that chronicles his adventures in the Vietnam war while in the 23rd Infantry Division.  The short stories are a collection of incidents, some real and some made up, that enlighten the reader on what really went on in the Vietnam war.  And to realize that everything is not what it appears to be. Tim O'Brien has stated his daughter asked him which stories were true and which short stories were made up.  He refused to tell her.  He only said the stories that seem too wild to be true are true stories, while the more normal stories are the made-up affairs. The book came about because of what Tim O'Brien felt was the public's opinions of the Vietnam war that were only based on ignorance instead of reality. I feel the same applies to Circus Freak Nation, that there are too many people in this country who wallow around in ignorance like pigs stuck in mud instead of finding out what is really going on. 

 

RH:  Which part of the writing/publishing process do you enjoy most?

 

PS:  The part of the writing/publishing process I really enjoy is brainstorming and letting the words fly, hitting the page as hard and harmful as they want to.  One of my friends told me to just let it loose when writing Circus Freak Nation.  Meaning to let whatever I felt or was thinking at the time to get it down and not be afraid of the appearance of perceptions it may cause.  Let my honest opinions and thoughts just decimate the pages.  Then fortunately for myself, I found a great local Chicago editor by the name of David Aretha, to help me compile everything into an interesting, messy but fun ride of a novel.  That plus I get to correspond with interesting, book loving nerds like me across the pond in the UK, like yourself, Richard. 

 

RH: Who is most likely to read and enjoy your book?

 

PS: The people most likely to read my book are the more intelligent, liberal, open-minded people.  People who love books and love idea's and want to read something that enlightens them, frightens them and makes them laugh, all within the front and back covers. Also, those who have been wondering what the hell is going on in America will like this book tremendously.  

 

RH:    What do you like to do when you’re not writing, and does it inspire you, or is it an escape from writing?

 

PS: While not writing I really enjoy music and used to play guitar.  Played a lot of classic rock and roll and Chicago style blues.  My collection and knowledge of music is pretty large, and I still have an appetite for what new music is being created out there.  You know, what are the kids listening to?  I like to consider my writing to be street savvy, rock and roll-based type, storytelling.  So, music has had an influence not only on my life but also on my writing.  

 

RH:  Do you have any promotional events planned, or are you considering any marketing ideas for your book?

 

PS: As far as promotional events or marketing events, I'm going to reach out to Good Reads and put a description of Circus Freak Nation out there.  I'm going to ask some Marketing minded college graduates for some of their marketing ideas. Google will be a resource used for a while until I get a better feel for this part of the process.

 

RH: What are your plans, especially in terms of other books or projects?

PS: I've already been thinking of the next book and have been kicking around an idea where people who are shot and killed in the Chicago area are brought back to life through a DNA database.  Their DNA is taken from this database, and they are brought back to life in a factory that specializes in bringing the shot and killed back.  An expensive cost that only the Country Club set can afford.   However, I'm not sure if that is going to be the main topic or a secondary topic in the book.  All I know is that my good friends from the Heavens Assassins Detective Agency will be involved somehow in some way.  

Circus Freak Nation

Circus Freak Nation is available now.

You can purchase it from Amazon in the United States by clicking HERE

 

Or from Amazon UK by clicking HERE 

BRINDLE BOOKS AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH SOPHIA MOSELEY

 

Sophia Moseley is an established feature writer for magazines, writes a regular column for the local press, and a children’s author; My Time Again Sophia’s first short story for adults, is now available and published by Brindle Books Ltd.

 

Living near the Pearl of Dorset, having spent most of her working life in the City, then joining the Arts & Culture industry, Sophia has written for both local and national magazines, including Liverpool’s Lifestyle Monthly, Nursery Education Plus, Woman’s Weekly, Archant Press, and Dorset Life Magazine. From chatting to Duncan Bannatyne to researching into historic houses, Sophia has interviewed celebrities and had exclusive access to both public and private collections.

 

Sophia has also written biographies for private clients and run creative writing workshops in both primary and secondary schools. She is a Member of the Society of Authors and Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society.

Click here to buy My Time Again from Amazon

BRINDLE: In about three sentences, what is your book about?

SOPHIA: It’s about fate and destiny, about the decisions you’ve made, and if you could wind back the clock and change them, would you? But it’s not just about being able to change your mind; what happens to the people you know, do they cease to exist, or does fate ensure their existence no matter what?

BRINDLE: When did you first get involved in writing/ When did you first become involved in this subject?

SOPHIA: Since I could first put pen to paper, I have always wanted to write. I started with poetry and as a child, had several poems published, and got paid for them, which was terrifically exciting! My imagination and curiosity have never diminished.

This is the first short story for adults I have written, so it’s a new genre for me, but a short story packs a punch, and I like that.

BRINDLE: What got you interested in this subject in the first place?

SOPHIA: I have always been curious about destiny and fate, and believe strongly that what will be, will be. But it’s how you get there that can be altered. But then that raises the question, how do you know if where you are now is where you are meant to be?

BRINDLE: What’s been your highlight/biggest achievement in this field?

SOPHIA: Because it’s a cliff-hanger, when people told me they couldn’t put it down until they had read it from cover to cover, I knew I’d achieved my aim. The theme also resonated with many people, and that’s what I wanted, to tap into the reader’s psyche. 

BRINDLE: What is it that drives you to write?

SOPHIA: It’s an unstoppable desire and need that I have always had. Writing is the same as breathing for me, it’s quite simply what I do. When I write, I enter a different world where anything is possible, it’s my escape route from life. I have dozens of notebooks and pads full of ideas.

BRINDLE: Can you tell us about your research methods?

SOPHIA: I’m very inquisitive, and a great one for listening to people, always asking questions, trying to find out about them, their lives and who they are; and I like to dig deeper, discover the unknown, uncover secrets.

BRINDLE: What are the best and worst things about being a writer in this field?

SOPHIA: I think the best thing is turning the ordinary into the extraordinary; seeing something in the everyday, and make it thought provoking.

The worst thing? Time. I never have enough time, and with short stories, you need to write the next one quite quickly; and I suppose criticism. There’s a little piece of me in every page I write, but it’s something every creator has to accept.

BRINDLE: Which authors etc. are your biggest influences?

SOPHIA: More recently, Santa Montefiore, Philippa Gregory, and Paula Hawkins. But when I worked in the City during the 90s, I read all of Jeffrey Archer’s books, though not sure I should admit that! But I also love poetry, especially the romantics; Keats, Wordsworth, Byron, and Brian Bilston makes me laugh.

BRINDLE: What do you think is the most important quality/skill for a writer in your field?

SOPHIA: Looking at things from a deeper and different perspective, not taking things at face value. Asking questions but also drawing on personal experience; empathy is very important too.

BRINDLE: What are your future plans?

SOPHIA: To complete my novel for younger readers, and an adult story based on a well-known environmental disaster that happened a few years ago. They are my current WIPs. 

BRINDLE: Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? (location/time/words per day/schedule etc.)

SOPHIA: It all depends on whether it’s fact of fiction. For the biographies I have written, it’s asking the right questions and deciphering their family history. But with my fiction, I draw on human nature and behaviour, adding contemporary issues to tie it together.

I do my writing at home, but I have a full-time job, so my word count and writing schedule varies from week to week. Evenings, weekends, and holidays are my writing times. I always aim for at least 500 words when I am short of time, then around 1500 at other times. But to be honest, I don’t always count, I just write.

BRINDLE: What advice would you give to new writers in your field?

SOPHIA: Always ask questions; look around you and be curious, never stop wondering about things, and never give up.

 

If you are a published, (or self-published), author, and would like to be the subject of one of our author interviews, please email us at: contact@brindlebooks.co.uk

Put the words ‘Interview request’ in the subject header, and tell us a little about yourself in the message. If your book is available online, please paste a link to it in the message. We’ll get back to you with further details and some interview questions.

Brindle Books Author interview with David J Blackmore

 First published 20^th November 2022

Doctor David J Blackmore is a noted military historian and author. He has published

four non-fiction books:

       Arms and Armour of the English Civil Wars;

       British Cavalry in the Mid-18th Century.

·         Destructive and Formidable, British Infantry Firepower, 1642 – 1765, (the published version of his PhD thesis from Nottingham Trent University);

   So Bloody a Day, the 16th Light Dragoons in the Waterloo Campaign.

He has also written more articles and given more lectures than he can remember, and has appeared in Sean Bean’s ‘Waterloo’, teaching him how to use a sabre.

A re-enactor for forty five years, including being Lord General of the Roundhead Association, and commanding the British Light Dragoons at Waterloo 200. He commanded B Troop, 16th Light Dragons from 2014 to 2019.

David says that he is now definitely retired from re-enacting.

However, he still gets out on a horse two or three times a week, including on Johnny, the model for Michael Roberts’ horse in the ‘Wellington’s Dragoon’ series.

in 2022, he penned the first novel in his ‘Wellington’s Dragoon’ series; ‘To The Douro’ which tells of the exploits of Michael Roberts, an officer in the 16th Light Dragoons during the Peninsular War, against Napoleon’s army. The second instalment in the series, ‘Secret Lines’ is now also available.

To The Douro (Wellington's Dragoon Book 1) eBook : Blackmore, David J: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

I caught up with David to ask him about his approach to the writing process:

BRINDLE: In about three sentences, what is your book about?

DAVID: It’s the first in a projected series of eight, telling the story of a young, British cavalry officer, Michael Roberts, through the Peninsular War to Waterloo. The first details how Michael comes to join the army, gets involved in the secret intelligence war, and plays a vital part in the campaign that culminated in Wellington’s famous crossing of the river Douro to capture Oporto from the French.

BRINDLE: When did you first get involved in writing/ When did you first become involved in this subject?

DAVID: My first book was published in 1990, and is a work of non-fiction, ‘Arms and Armour of the English Civil Wars’. My interest in the Napoleonic Wars goes back to my school days, when I was a war-gamer.

BRINDLE: What got you interested in this subject in the first place?

DAVID: I’m afraid that I can’t remember, it’s a long time ago.

BRINDLE: What’s been your highlight/biggest achievement in this field?

DAVID: In non-fiction it has to be ‘Destructive and Formidable, which is my PhD thesis. In fiction it’s the next book.

Secret Lines (Wellington's Dragoon Book 2) eBook : Blackmore, David: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

BRINDLE: What is it that drives you to write?

DAVID: It’s the act of creating something. For non-fiction that is an addition to knowledge and understanding. For fiction it is creating something that readers will enjoy.

BRINDLE: Can you tell us about your research methods?

DAVID: In general terms, I have pretty much every contemporary account written by someone in the cavalry, and I have read them all, which has provided a lot of useful factual information about the lives of the cavalrymen. I also think it is important not just to read the words, but to listen to the voices as well. It’s the difference between reading a play, and seeing it performed. That has given me a feel for the period, and the character of the cavalry and the men in it. Then I make extensive use of modern studies of the various campaigns and battles. I have also done some of what I write about; riding, using a sabre, and taking part in the 200th anniversary recreation of Waterloo.

BRINDLE: What are the best and worst things about being a writer in this field?

DAVID: I suppose the best thing is simply that I enjoy it. The second-best thing is that I don’t have to worry about footnotes, the bane of the historian. The worst thing is the awareness that there are people out there who know an awful lot about what I am writing about, I have to be very thorough and check everything for accuracy.

BRINDLE: Which authors etc. are your biggest influences?

DAVID: I can’t point to any particular authors, although I have always thought highly of George Macdonald Fraser’s Flashman books, which are very well researched. However, his autobiographical account of his part in the war against Japan is one of the best things I have ever read.

One major influence has been Dave Allen the comedian. He was a consummate story teller.

BRINDLE: What do you think is the most important quality/skill for a writer in your field?

DAVID: Determination.

BRINDLE: What are your future plans?

DAVID: To get to the end of book eight.

BRINDLE: Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? ( location/time/words per day/schedule etc.)

DAVID: I work in my study, with all my reference books to hand. I don’t particularly keep any schedule. I might go for a week or two and not write a word, which doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about it, and sometimes I’ll hammer out ten thousand words in a week. I also use pen and paper a lot, I find it makes it easier to concentrate when I am working things out.

BRINDLE: What advice would you give to new writers in your field?

DAVID: Read everything you can, never assume you are right, and make sure that you are enjoying it, otherwise you will fail.

You can follow David’s blog using the link below:

https://djblackmore.wordpress.com/